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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT FACILITY
REQUEST FOR PIPELINE ENTRY APPROVAL
AGENCY’S PROJECT ID: RS-X1018 FINANCIAL PLAN (US$)
GEFSEC Project ID: 2686 GEF CONTRIBUTION
COUNTRIES: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
PROJECT TITLE: Integrated Management of the Project (estimated) 2,500,000
Montecristo Trinational Protected Area Cofinancing
GED AGENCY: Inter-American Development Bank (estimated) 9,000,000
(IDB) PDF A*
OTHER EXECUTING AGENCIES: n/a PDF B** 150,000
DURATION: 4 years PDF C
GEF FOCAL AREA: Biodiversity Sub-Total GEF PDF 150,000
GEF OPERATIONAL PROGRAM: OP4 COFINANCING PDF (estimated)
GEF STRATEGIC PRIORITY: BD-1, BD-2, BD-4 IDB 250,000
ESTIMATED STARTING DATE: January 2006 National Contribution 30,000
ESTIMATED WP ENTRY DATE: December 2005
PIPELINE ENTRY DATE: February 2005 Sub-Total 280,000
PFD Cofinancing:
Total PDF Financing 430,000
for the Project:
Governments Endorsement Registry: (Operative Focal Points)
El Salvador: Hugo César Barrera, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources (16/07/04)
Guatemala: Juan Mario Dary F., Minister of the Environment, Natural Resources (18/07/04)
Honduras: Patricia G. Panting, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment (31/08/04)
This proposal has been prepared in accordance with the GEF policies and procedures and
meets the standards of the GEF Project Review Criteria for approval.
Janine Ferretti
IA/ExA Coordinator Henrik Franklin
Janine Ferretti Project Contact Person
Email: gef@iadb.org (copy michaelt@iadb.org) E-MAIL: henrikf@iadb.org
_____________________
Date: 7 March 2005
PART I—PROJECT CONCEPT
A. SUMMARY
1. The Montecristo Massif is a mountainous area located in the Trifinio Region between El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. It reaches its highest point of 2,418 meters above
sea level at the Trifinio Summit, which is precisely where the borders of the three
countries meet. In 1997, the three countries signed an international agreement for the
execution of the Trifinio Plan, which aims at promoting the integrated development of
the Trifinio Region. This agreement describes the Region as a special interest area for
the three governments, constituting an undividable ecological unit where only joint and
coordinated actions by the three countries can offer a satisfactory solution to the
problems affecting the area and the sustainable management of its natural resources.
2. The Trifinio Region and the Montecristo Massif stand out for being the upper reaches of
three of the most important watersheds in Central America (Lempa, Motagua and Ulúa)
and for the existence therein of important biological resources. First of all, it hosts
important extensions of almost unaltered Low Montane Cloud Forest, which is a type of
vegetation that is only found at the tops of the tropical and subtropical mountains with
very rugged topography and steep slopes. These forests serve as resting habitat for birds
migrating between the northern and southern hemispheres, and thus have an important
effect on biodiversity much beyond Central America. Likewise, Montecristo serves as
an important interconnection zone for the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC),
with a series of previously identified biological corridors within the three countries that
are recognized as habitat and migration routes for fauna in the Central American
Isthmus.1
3. In recognition of the biological value of the area, the Governments of El Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras, through the Trinational Commission for the Trifinio Plan
(TCTP) signed in 1987 the Declaration of the International La Fraternidad Biosphere
Reserve, affirming their intention to carry out all actions necessary for its acceptance in
the UNESCO Man-and-the-Biosphere Program. The respective portions were
subsequently declared as protected areas under the laws of each country. The Reserve
includes a core area of 60,4 km², made up mainly of the cloud forests located above
1,800 meters above sea level; a buffer zone (BZ) of 247.2 km² made up of the pre-cloud
forests, pine trees and agricultural intervention areas between 1,200 and 1,800 meters
above sea level; and a multiple-use zone of 284.1 km² between 780 to 1,200 meters
above sea level with diverse anthropogenic uses, pine forests and thickets.2
1
The associated biological corridors include: San Diego-La Barra Dry Forest in El Salvador; the Guija Lake
Wetlands between El Salvador and Guatemala; the Suchitán, Quetzaltepeque, Ipala and Las Víboras Volcanoes,
and Lake de Atescatempa in Guatemala; Cerro Güisayote and Cerro Erapuca in Honduras; and Cerro El Pital
on the border of El Salvador and Honduras.
2
Whilst the International Reserve of the La Fraternidad Biosphere was declared by the three governments in
1987, it has not yet been considered under UNESCO’s Man-and-the-Biosphere Program. As a preliminary step
in the process of the creation of a trinational protected area and for the purpose of the present project, TCTP has
adopted the name of Montecristo Trinational Protected Area (MTPA). The definitive name of the area will
depend on the management category to be adopted under mutual agreement by the three countries.
2
4. The efforts that have been made so far for the conservation and management of
Montecristo’s biological resources have had a limited impact. This is due, on one hand,
to the isolated nature of the interventions and their focus on specific ecosystems in each
country without a common vision, and, on the other hand, to a limited understanding of
the importance integrated ecosystems management by local residents, and the public and
private institutions. Lack of awareness and infringement of the laws regarding natural
resources and the environment is evident, and the cultural basis of the population tends,
in general, not to promote environmentally sustainable economic and social
development. The integrity of the Montecristo Trinational Protected Area (MTPA) and
its biological resources is threatened by the expansion of the agricultural and grazing
frontiers. To date, only El Salvador has invested resources for the management of its
portion of the protected area in Montecristo, thus achieving a relative level of protection.
If the necessary protection measures are not taken, through participatory processes
involving diverse groups of stakeholders and embracing the trinational protected area as
a single comprehensive management unit, the risk is very high of losing these biological
resources of importance to the three countries involved, the Central American region
and the world as a whole.
5. For the above reasons, the three governments intend to carry out a joint effort to
conserve Montecristo’s ecosystems and their biodiversity, through integrated
management, valuation and sustainable use of the environmental goods and services
which they produce. The proposed Project to be financed through GEF will complement
the investments of the three Governments under the Trinational Sustainable
Development Program for the Upper Lempa River Basin (PT-CARL, for its acronyms
in Spanish) financed through IDB loans for Guatemala (1331/OC-GU), and Honduras
(1082/OC-HO), as well as resources from the IDB-funded Environment Program in El
Salvador (886/OC-ES, known as PAES for its acronyms in Spanish), local counterpart
contributions and support from other donors.
6. The purpose of the proposed Project is to establish an efficient and operational
trinational framework for the integrated and sustainable management of the
Montecristo Trinational Protected Area (MTPA), and contribute to the consolidation of
the biological corridors that connect it to the MBC within the Trifinio Region of El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The expected global impact is the enhanced
conservation of regionally and globally important biodiversity in the Montecristo
Massif. Figure 1 summarizes the specific objectives and the main expected results.
3
Figure 1: Specific Objectives and Expected Results of the Project
Specific Objective Expected Results
1. Consolidation of the geographical limits a. Land ownership legally clarified in the core and buffer zones.
and the legal protection framework of the b. GIS based redefinition and demarcation of the MTPA limits
MTPA c. Sole protected area management category agreed at trinational level.
d. Effective management and protection program operating in the MTPA
and BZ, involving both private and publicly owned lands.
e. Regional agreement and national legal instruments backing the results of
a, b, c and d (above)
2. Integrated management and sustainable use a. Best practices for the sustainable use of natural resources and
of the MTPA, its buffer zone and biological biodiversity adopted and generating revenues, and the maintenance and/or
corridors for biodiversity conservation and recovery of the ecosystems in the MTPA and its BZ, including the
improved livelihoods of the local population consolidation of regional biological corridors.
b. Environmental education promoted and ecological groups with youths in
the three countries established.
c. Ecotourism initiatives operating in the MTPA, coordinated with the
strategies and initiatives of tourism development in the region.
3. Information about the biodiversity in the a. Uniform trinational socioeconomic and ecological diagnostics for the
MTPA, its buffer zone, and adjacent whole MTPA and its BZ
biological corridors b. Socio-environmental diagnostics and strategies contributing towards the
consolidation of the biological corridors to the MTPA within the MBC.
c. Completed analytical studies and pilot projects aimed at paying
environmental services offered by the MTPA and recurring costs for the
management of the MTPA.
d. Information disseminated at all levels to support the execution of all
project activities and replication of best practices.
4. Institutional strengthening for the a. Local Support Group (LSG) established and strengthened as a formal
management of the MTPA framework for the participation of local stakeholders in the management of
the MTPA, consisting of representatives from local governments,
community groups, productive associations, private enterprise, NGO’s, and
representatives of other projects/programs in the Trifinio Region.
b. Trinational Protected Areas Committee (TPAC) strengthened in its role
as technical advisor for MTPA.
c. Trinational Management Unit (TMU) legally established within the legal
institutional framework of the Trifinio Plan Agreement and the TPTC
structure, as the sole responsible entity for the operational management of
the MTPA.
B. COUNTRY OWNERSHIP
B.1 COUNTRY ELIGIBILITY
7. The three countries have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity: El Salvador
(September 8, 1994); Guatemala (July 10, 1995); and Honduras (July 31 1995).
B.2 COUNTRY DRIVENNESS
8. Trifinio Plan. Since 1997, the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
have been implementing the Trifinio Plan, which promotes the integrated and
sustainable development of the border area, as a contribution towards Central
American integration. For more than 15 years, the three governments and donors have
invested significant resources for the sustainable development of the Trifinio Region.
One of the main activities between 1992 and 1999 was the Trifinio Pilot Project
4
(TPP)3, which was financed by the European Union in 17 municipalities of the region.
Subsequently the three countries requested financing and technical assistance from the
IDB and other institutions and donors for the formulation and execution of a
Sustainable Development Program for the Upper Lempa River Basin (PT-CARL).
9. Declaration of the International Reserve of the La Fraternidad Biosphere
Reserve. In 1987, the Vice-Presidents of the three countries signed the Declaration of
the International La Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve, reflecting the three countries’
policies to promote the conservation of the Montecristo Massif. In response to this
declaration, the areas in each country were legally declared as protected areas in their
respective countries: in El Salvador as the Montecristo National Park, through
Executive decree No. 53, published in the Official Gazette, Volume 297 dated
November 17, 1987; in Guatemala as the La Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve through
Government Agreement 939-87 and reaffirmed under Executive Order 4-89; and in
Honduras as Reserve of the Montecristo-Trifinio Biosphere Massif and National
Montecristo Park under Executive Order 87/87. The institutions responsible for
protected areas in the three countries held a meeting in February 2003 during which
they agreed to work towards the integrated management of the MTPA as a whole. As
a result, the Trinational Committee for Protected Areas (TCPA) was established under
the TCTP, as a formal technical advisory and supervisory body for the MTPA.
10. Regional policies. During the XIX Presidential Summit Meeting held in 1997 in
Panama City, the Central American Presidents agreed to “promote the consolidation of
the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor” (MBC) through the interconnection of each
country’s natural protected areas, in order to conserve the biological diversity as a
basic and strategic element for sustainable production. One of the objectives of the
Trifinio Plan and the MBC is the protection, conservation and management of the
ecosystems that exist in the Montecristo Massif and all other linked ecosystems within
the Trifinio Region. The proposed Project responds to the objectives established by the
Central American Alliance for Sustainable Development (ALIDES) and the
Biodiversity and Priority Areas Agreement subscribed by the Central American
countries. It also coincides with each one of the objectives of the Regional
Conservation and Sustainable Use Strategy of Mesoamerican Biodiversity (CCAD
2003) and its results related to: (i) increasing the knowledge base regarding
Mesoamerican biodiversity as a basis for decision-making; (ii) developing initiatives
for the protection, recovery and sustainable use of the representative and priority
ecosystems, habitats and species of the region; (iii) promoting the valuation and
sustainable use of biodiversity as a contribution to enhance the quality of life of the
Mesoamerican society; (iv) strengthening the regional institutional framework and
harmonizing instruments for effective management of biodiversity in Mesoamerica;
and (v) establishing programs in the region to reduce threats to biodiversity.
Furthermore, in the year 2003 the Central American countries signed the
Memorandum of Understanding for the Mesoamerican Sustainable Development
Initiative (IMDS for its initials in Spanish) of the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP), which
takes the MBC’s Business Plan as its foundation. One of the priorities of the IMDS is
the development of programs for the sustainable management of natural resources in
multi-national areas and identifies the Trifinio-Montecristo area as a priority.
3
Trifinio Pilot Project, 1999 Report and Final Report (Goals achieved 1992-1999) Esquipulas, December 1999.
5
11. National policies. The proposed Project is also consistent with national biodiversity
strategies and respective action plans for each country, which were previously
financed with GEF resources, in which the Montecristo area represents a high
management priority. The National Biodiversity Strategy of El Salvador
(GEF/UNDP/MARN, 1999), on the one hand, establishes the following three
priorities: (i) implementation of an information system for biodiversity and the
consolidation of a national protected areas system; (ii) institutional restructuring and
redefinition of conservation activities, including updating of plans, programs and
policies as well as regulations and procedures; and; (iii) strengthening the national,
institutional and human capabilities to conserve biodiversity. The Montecristo
National Park is the protected area of El Salvador with the highest priority (National
Biodiversity Strategy, 1999) and the only area directly managed by the State. It has the
greatest extension of cloud forest in El Salvador. In the case of Honduras, the
Government carried out a study in 2003 to rationalize the National Protected Areas
System. The Montecristo-Trifinio National Park was included as one of the 35 most
prioritized protected areas from a total of 107 areas. The area is also included in one of
the four identified biological corridors at the national level within the MBC. Finally,
according to the National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of
Biodiversity in Guatemala, (CONAMA, CONAP, MAGA, GEF/UNDP, 1999), the
Altos de Chiquimula Bioregion, where the La Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve
(Montecristo Massif) is located, is ranked in tenth place among 26 bioregions, based
on a consolidated analysis of criteria (biodiversity, extension and representation). The
Reserve also forms part of the biological corridor that links the Sierra de las Minas
Biosphere Reserve to the north and the Guija Lake Wetlands to the south.
C. PROGRAM AND POLICY CONFORMITY
C.1 PROGRAM DESIGNATION AND CONFORMITY
12. The proposed project responds to the objectives and priorities of Operational Program
4, Mountainous Ecosystems, as it will: (i) promote the in situ conservation of the
cloud forest, pre-cloud forest (transitional) and pine forest ecological associations of
the Montecristo Massif; (ii) contribute to regional and global efforts in consolidating
the MBC and its interconnections in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; and (iii)
promote the dissemination and adoption of sustainable use practices of the natural
resources as a basis for economic production, social well-being and maintenance of
the integrity of the represented ecosystems. The project meets the basic elements of
the following GEF strategic priorities:
BD-1: Catalyzing the Sustainability of Protected Areas. The proposed Project will
contribute to consolidation and enhanced management of the MTPA, which hosts
biodiversity of global importance. While presently declared as trinational
protected area in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the area lacks a
comprehensive management scheme. The proposed innovative trinational
management model could be replicated in other areas of the region. More
specifically, the project would contribute to: (i) strengthening management
capabilities of a trinational protected area; (ii) formal involvement of local
communities (incl. indigenous communities) in MTPA management; (iii) a
reduction of the threats to the biodiversity presented in the Trifinio Region;
(iv) development and implementation of innovative sustainable financing
6
mechanisms for the operation of the MTPA; and (v) participation of private land
owners in the management of protected areas.
BD-2: Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Landscapes and Sectors: The
proposed Project will promote changes in the attitude and actions of local
governments, municipalities, communities and productive sectors and adoption of
integrated ecosystem management approaches and strategies, including, for
example, conservation oriented agro-forestry. Furthermore, it will promote the
maintenance and/or restoration of the ecosystem functions in the Trifinio Region
and interconnected biological corridors through replicable demonstration projects
and innovative market incentives.
BD-4: Generation and Dissemination of Best Practices. The proposed Project is
innovative with regards to its strategy to promote a single, common and integrated
management scheme for a transboundary protected area shared by three countries
and its intention to develop sustainable institutional and financing mechanisms at
the trinational level to conserve biodiversity of national, regional and global
importance. Furthermore, it will contribute to regional information dissemination
initiatives regarding the management and sustainable use of biodiversity (for
example through IABIN).
2. PROJECT DESIGN
A. Problem analysis
13. The Trifinio Region has an increasing strategic intra-regional importance as it presents
important tourist attractions (Esquipulas, Guatemala), provides for commercial
exchange (Ocotepeque, Honduras), and hosts industrial and financial services
(Metapán, El Salvador). The Montecristo Massif is located in the middle of this
convergence and suffers the consequences of anthropogenic pressures of a growing
population and the expansion of the agricultural frontier. The Region has great
potential for contributing to the sub-regional integration process, promoting
sustainable economic development and mitigating the deterioration of natural
resources and its consequences. The design of the proposed Project is based on the
existence in Montecristo of regionally and globally important biodiversity, which is
threatened by intense anthropogenic pressures.
14. Biodiversity of regional and global importance. The Montecristo Massif is the place
where the El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras borders meet, in the middle of an
impressive cloud and pre-cloud forest complex of approximately 6.000 hectares and
reaching up to the Trifinio Summit at 2.418 over sea level (see Figure 2, Map of the
Project Area). A pre-cloud transition forest that shifts gradually to pine forests at
lower altitudes surrounds the cloud forest. The information on the biological resources
at the MTPA is mainly based on the diagnostic studies made in the Salvadoran portion
during the preparation of the Montecristo National Park Management Plan (Project
MAG-PAES/CATIE, 2003). The Park presents a high level of species diversity, as
illustrated, for example, by the existence of 249 species of trees with diameters greater
than 10 cm. in a sample area of 2.000 hectares. A study made by Herrera (1998)
reported 294 species of birds (both migrating and resident), belonging to 38 different
families. The surveys of mastofauna indicate that there still is good diversity and
abundance of animals, although they are under even greater anthropogenic pressures.
7
In terms of endemism, two reptiles have been reported: Abronia montecritoi (an
ophidian identified in El Salvador) and Rhadinaea montecristali, a non-poisonous
snake that can be found at approximately 2.000 meters above sea level in the cloud
forest areas. Additionally, there are two types of endemic amphibians: Bolitoglossa
dunni and Centronella fleshmanni. While the ecological strata are defined by their
altitudinal ranges, much variation can also be noted at the Montecristo Massif because
of the local differentiations in soil and topographic conditions. According to CATIE
(2003) the MTPA still has a good presence of species that are reported as critical for
their status as threatened or in danger of extinction.4
Figure 2: Map of the Project Area*
GU HO
ES
Limits of the Trifinio Region (outer limits for
the intervention of the PT-CARL)
* During the PDF-B phase, more detailed and illustrative maps will be prepared.
15. Based on the information available, the following paragraphs describe the biodiversity
that exists in the various vegetation strata in the Montecristo Massif:
Cloud forest/closed vegetation, which begins at approximately 1.900 m above
sea level and reaches the highest part at the Trifinio Point at approximately
2.418 m above sea level, consists mainly of the cloud shaded montane
evergreen tropical association.5 This is one of the most important plant
formations at the Mesoamerican level and at the Montecristo Massif there is a
large diversity of cryptogam and fanerogam plants, including grasses, trees,
shrubs, lianas and epiphytes. The tree species composition at this stratum is
dominated by species that surpass 40 meters in height and have diameters of up
to 1.7 meters. Many of the species found in the cloud forest have slow growth
4
Agronomic Tropical Research and Teaching Center. 2003. Montecristo National Park Management Plan.
Project MAG-PAES/CATIE. Metapán, El Salvador.
5
A small relict of high plateau vegetation can be found at the top of the Trifinio Point.
8
rates as a result of the height conditions and cold weather and many of the
specimens can be several hundred years old. Studies by Maria Luisa Reyna
Aguilar (1979) cited 177 species for the cloud forest, including two new
species known to science (Amphea reyna and Quetzalia reyna). The “cajeto”
(L. Oriaceae) is a species reported as threatened, and its distribution is only in
the cloud forest. Finally, the threatened species Persea steyermarkii
(aguacatillo) is found in the cloud and pre-cloud forests, while cerezo
(Synardisia venosa), is distributed at the cloud stratum and in the natural pine
forest.
Pre-cloud forest/closed vegetation consists mainly of cloud shaded montane
forest, found between the altitude range of 1.700 meters above sea level and
reaching up to 2.150 meters above sea level. It presents a significant amount of
herbaceous species where the gramineae and leguminous plants prevail,
indicating that the place corresponds to secondary vegetation being converted
to cloud forest. Among the herbaceous plant species in this stratum several
types of bright and colorful grasses, such as the orchid called “payasito”
(Epidendrum ibaguense), a Polygalacea (Polygala platicarpa), Castilleja
intecrifolia (Escrophuylariaceae), and a blue-colored Labiatae (Salvia cf.
leucocephala) called “blue salvia”. Forty-three different species of trees have
been observed in this area. The species reported for being more abundant was
the “lengua de zanate” (Rapanea juergensenii Mez) and “duraznillo” (Rhamnus
capreaefolia M.C. & L.A.Johnston). The “siete pellejos” (Z. cuneifolia) is an
endangered species, which was identified in 1980 at the Montecristo National
Park in El Salvador and its distribution is only found in the pre-cloud stratum
and natural pine forests. The “hoja de cohete” (C. matudae) is another
endangered species found at this stratum.
Open vegetation/natural pine forest is dominated by the evergreen tropical
sub-montane conifers with a good diversity of tree species (44 species),
including oocarpa pine (Pinus oocarpa Schiede), Lengua de cuzuco (Rapanea
juergensenii Mez), oak (Quercus aaata Mill), and madre de cacao (Gliricia
sepium (Jacq) Kunth ex Griseb). The lion’s paw (Oreopanx lacnocephalu), which
is reported as an endangered species can be found at the natural pine forest
stratum.
Closed vegetation, consists mainly of evergreen sub-montane vegetation
between the altitudinal range of between 700 to 1000 meters above sea level,
with species such as Cordia alliodora (laurel), Simaruba glauca (aceituno),
Pinus oocarpa, and Lonchocarpus minimiflorus (chaperno), and saprophyte
plants such as the pipa del indio (Monotropa coccinea) and numerous
bromeliads and orchids. This stratum is the most diverse in terms of tree
species (126 species) and is a young and transitional association, in other
words it is a secondary forest wherein Leguminocea presents the greatest
number of species. Two species found in this stratum reported as threatened:
cedro (Cedrella odorata L.) and cedro macho (Cedrella salvadorensis Massifl).
Three species are in danger of extinction: copalillo (Bursera graveolens (H. B.
K.) Trinana & Planch), quina (Exostema caribaeum (Jacq) Roem & Schult) and
naranjillo (Ulmus mexicana (Liebm) Planc). The presence in the Montecristo
9
National Park in El Salvador of a relatively high abundance of two cedar
species highly valued in the timber market, is a testimony of the good
condition of the ecosystem and an indicator of the lack of anthropogenic
pressure as a result of the inaccessibility and/or conservation efforts.
16. In terms of fauna, the available information indicates the following:
Mastofauna. During the rapid ecological evaluation carried out exclusively in
the Salvadoran part of the area (CATIE, 2003), 23 species of mastofauna was
found, of which 9 were threatened and 9 in danger of extinction. Among the
species found, include: Marmosa americana (marmosa), Leopardos wiedii
(tigrillo) and Tayassu tajacu (cuche de monte). According to the interviews
with the local population and national park rangers, the following endangered
species were also reported: Puma concolor (puma), Herpailururs yaguarundi
(gato de monte) and Conepatus mesoleucus (zorrillo lista blanca). Other
studies in the area report other species, including: red deer, (Mazama
americana), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), skunk (Spilogale putorius), tayra
(Eira barbara), weasel (Mustela frenata), grisón (Galictis vittata), and the
spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). With a score of 2.336352 in the Shannon
Weaver index, Montecristo is considered as an area that possesses a high
diversity with regards to mastofauna and presents a sufficiently heterogeneous
environment to maintain a high specific biological diversity (CATIE, 2003).
Despite existing human pressures, the cloud forest vegetation stratum presents
the greatest diversity of mastofauna species due to the variety of habitat, food
sources and refuge provided by its vegetation. The greatest concentration of
the threatened and endangered species is found on private lands that occupy
large extensions of land in pristine condition. At the same time, a study by
Herrera (1998) of the whole Reserve (in the three countries) indicates the
existence of 111 mammal species belonging to 21 families; the most abundant
being bats with 59 species and rodents with 25 species.
Reptiles and amphibians. There are 38 reptile species belonging to 10
different families, including two endemic species: Abronia montecritoi (an
ophidian identified in El Salvador) and Rhadinaea montecristali, a non-
poisonous snake which can be found living at 2,000 meters above sea level in
the cloud forest. Additionally there are 15 species of amphibians belonging to
5 families, of which two are endemic with their presence limited to the cloud
forest: Bolitoglossa dunni and Centronella fleshmanni.
17. Additional to the studies carried out in the Montecristo National Park in El Salvador,
the Data Conservation Center of the San Carlos University in Guatemala executed a
series of studies in the Guatemalan part of the MTPA.6 The resulting report includes
the results of small mammal assessments and an analysis of the ectoparasites they
host, as well as an analysis of microhabitats that included the collection and
identification of 1,035 plants in the area, identifying at least two endemic species, an
epiphyte (Anthurium subcordatum) and a tree, Daphnopis monocephala. The study
6
Mamíferos menores y entomofauna del bosque nubloso del área núcleo de la Reserva de Biosfera La
Fraternidad, Guatemala. 2003. Centro de Datos para la Conservación/CDC, Centro de Estudios
Conservacionistas/CECON. Guatemala.
10
concluded that there is a vast diversity with regards to flora, although more research is
necessary to complete the inventories.
18. The biological assessments made for the Salvadoran part of the APTM (which
represents only 20% of the APTM) indicate that the area contains a rich biodiversity
and recent studies confirm this with additional data. For example, through studies
carried out by the Missouri Botanical Garden (G. Davis, 1997), 23 new gramineae
species were registered for El Salvador. Additional studies are required to characterize
the biological resources on the Guatemalan and Honduran parts of the MTPA and
inventories and special research is essential to determine with greater scientific
precision, the regional and global value of the area, including its importance in linking
the regional biological corridors within the MBC, serving as repository for an
important number of endemic species and germoplasm bank and potential seedbed for
the recovery and/or restoration of similar ecosystems, now fragmented and squandered
in the region.
19. Regarding the regional importance, it can be noted that the MTPA is included among
the priority biological corridors identified by the CCAD (Regional Strategy for the
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Mesoamerican Biodiversity 2003) and is one of
the few that facilitates the connection of the corridors of the Atlantic slope with the
Pacific, as the Massif is located on the divide of the larger basin of the Atlantic Ocean
and Pacific Sea in the Central American Isthmus. Its importance is further highlighted
by the fact that the Montecristo Massif is located in the transboundary area between
three Central American countries, and provides for the interconnection of biological
corridors from several eco-regions.
20. Main threats to the biodiversity. Anthropogenic pressure is the main threat to the
integrity of the ecosystems of the Montecristo Massif. The population of the Trifinio
Region surpasses 700.000 inhabitants, of which 30% live in the urban areas and 70%
is distributed between disperse villages and hamlets that constitute small rural
settlements, whose main activities are agriculture, cattle breeding and trade. The
majority of the population in the area is ladino, with less than 1% representing
indigenous groups (mainly Chortí). The main threats to biodiversity represented at the
Montecristo Massif, derived from human activities are:
Felling of natural forests for agricultural and cattle ranching uses: Important
extensions of natural forests are destroyed on an annual basis, due to uncontrolled
expansion of agricultural activities, including cattle grazing, resulting in the
reduction and fragmentation of the ecosystems. It is calculated that between 600
and 1.000 persons live within the core zone of the MTPA (corresponding to the
cloud forest) with an increasing trend as a result of pressures by the people in
search of land, particularly in the Guatemalan and Honduras sections.
Forest Fires: The climatic conditions characterized by high temperatures and
strong winds during the dry season, combined with traditional agricultural
practices involving slash-and-burn, as well as over grazing, increases the
vulnerability of the ecosystems to forest fires. Pine forests and their transition to
pre-cloud forests are especially sensitive to fires.
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Application of non-sustainable agricultural activities: The application of
traditional cultivation methods on slopes, without the use of adequate techniques
where slash and burn practices are used on slopes without soil and water
conservation practices, result in accelerated erosion and in sedimentation of nearby
streams. Also, the excessive use of agrochemicals for pest, disease and weed
control constitutes a serious threat to the loss of biodiversity, mainly affecting the
microflora populations in the soil, insects, small mammals, aquatic fauna and
birds, which form part of the biological wealth of the Region.
Structural extraction and degradation of the forests: Due to the illegal wood
extraction, particularly in the pine forests, there is a high structural degradation of
the forests, because of the damages resulting from the extraction process itself
and/or as a result of the elimination of the possibilities for natural regeneration
with seed trees with good genetic characteristics.
Indiscriminate and illegal hunting and collection: Hunting and collection of fauna
and flora is a traditional practice of many people living in the surroundings of
ecosystems for food as well as for other purposes. People also collect small
animals and birds to keep them as pets or for sale. The same occurs with some
plants (ferns, orchids, bromeliads and some medicinal herbs).
Reduction in ground and surface water: The survival of many species of flora and
fauna species, whose life cycle is dependant on the existence of surface water
bodies, is threatened by the reduction in the basic volume of water flows. This
process mainly results from the destruction of the forest cover in aquifer recharge
areas.
21. Structural causes of the threats. There are several structural causes that give origin
to these threats. As in many cases, the transboundary zones are traditionally the lands
of “everybody and nobody” and receive little attention from the governments,
especially in the form of services and technical assistance. Rural borders are barely
controlled by the authorities and their economy is predominantly informal, often with
illegal contraband trade. Furthermore, nationalism has hindered the development of an
integrated and common approach towards natural resources management between the
three countries. The economy of the Trifinio Region is not very developed and makes
little use of improved technology as a result of limited business opportunities and
credit sources. Marginal farming prevails as a means of subsistence on very poor and
unproductive soils better suited to natural forest. The consequences are low
production, low income, low commercial exchange, low investment, and therefore, a
high level of poverty. Additionally, the lack of knowledge of the fragility and real
value of the environmental goods and services provided by the ecosystems (including
water, protection against natural disasters, and biological resources) generates apathy
among the population concerning the value natural resources and environmental
protection. Also, there is very limited local capacity to manage economic, social and
environmental development programs in a sustainable way. Finally, the participation
of civil society organizations and local governments in environmental issues affecting
the natural resources of the region has been limited, particularly at the trinational level.
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b. Baseline scenario (without the GEF project)
22. The Trifinio Region is already receiving investments by the three countries to promote
trinational sustainable development under the Trifinio Plan, which was prepared to
address many of the problems that have been previously mentioned. Among the more
significant initiatives is the on-going IDB-funded Trinational Program for Sustainable
Development of the Upper Lempa River Basin (PT-CARL), which aims at improving
the quality of life of the population through actions that foster sustainable
development. The specific objectives of the Program are to: (i) achieve the
sustainable management of the renewable natural resources of the region; (ii) reduce
the vulnerability to natural hazards; (iii) promote productive activities and economic
diversification; and (iv) strengthen local governments and improve the capabilities of
community organizations within a trinational integration context.
23. Renewable Natural Resources Management and Development. PT-CARL will
address the problems related to the loss of forest cover and non-sustainable use of the
land through conservation oriented techniques and the promotion of viable income
generating activities that lead to increased incomes and improved quality of life.
Support mechanisms will be incorporated to organize producers, provide technical
assistance, channel incentives in kind and bonuses for conservation works, marketing
support, etc. Projects related to forest management and reforestation at the community
and municipal level will also be supported in order to protect the water recharge areas
in the watersheds that provide water to the population. Activities and studies for
developing basic sanitation infrastructure and environmental protection are also
included, as well as small infrastructure projects requested by the municipalities and
community organizations for potable water, latrines and wastewater disposal, agro
industrial waste mitigation, solid waste management and local road improvement.
24. Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. This component seeks the recovery of degraded
areas and the protection of vulnerable areas, providing financing for: (i) small works
aimed at solving specific problems associated with the deterioration of riverbeds such
as flood control and slope stabilization, activities and small works for the protection of
public infrastructure and preparation of the respective projects; and (ii) systems for
prevention, early warning and monitoring of natural disasters, including community
preparedness.
25. Economic Diversification Promotion. This component will address entrepreneurial
development, including entrepreneurial training and organization activities, marketing
studies and technological processes, and productive diversification including
improvement of forestry, farming and non-framing productivity or those aimed at
adding value, including such things as: dairy product processing improvement, jelly
production, wood handicraft products, plant nursery and ornamental plant marketing,
organic coffee promotion and marketing and certification, tourism and related projects
promotion as well as training to improve skills required for these activities.
26. Institutional Strengthening. The strengthening of the institutional framework of the
local governments and communities that is needed for the execution and sustainability
of the Program will be supported at the trinational level. This includes the preparation
of a Strategic Plan for the execution of the Program and specific studies on three basic
topics: (i) local economy and trade; (ii) the environment and aspects related to the
13
MTPA; and (iii) technical aspects for control and surveillance of the natural resources
of the region (hydrometeorological information, and animal and plant health norms
affecting the local trade). At the local government level, PT-CARL will increase the
capacity of the municipalities to carry out the functions provided by the law regarding
control and surveillance of natural resources extraction and will define a financial-
administrative model to improve the collection of income established by the laws in
effect in order to guarantee municipal management sustainability. At the local level,
the main action will be aimed at the conformation, training and organization of the
Local Stakeholders Committees (LSC), and increasing participation of the community
organizations of the three countries in the region.
27. The activities and investments of PT-CARL are expected to contribute both to the
sustainable baseline scenario as well as co-financing to the GEF/IDB project.
Examples of baseline activities and investments include, among others: basic
sanitation infrastructure, disaster prevention works, diversification in agricultural and
non-agricultural production, and strengthening of local governments. Activities and
investments that are considered as co-financing to the GEF/IDB project include,
among others: natural resources management in areas adjacent to the BZ and in the
biological corridors; environmentally friendly productive diversification, and
strengthening of the institutional framework for trinational integration.
28. The IDB-funded Environmental Project of El Salvador (PAES) has been active in the
country since 1998, and it is aimed at promoting sustainable farming production in the
middle basin of the Lempa River. PAES activities have included agroforestry
outreach, soil conservation and reforestation actions with impoverished hillside
producers, disseminating best practices that have addressed some of the threats against
the MTPA, but not reaching the buffer zone. The PAES has also supported activities
related to the environmental and socio-economic characterization of the area,
including: (i) the Regional Project for the Consolidation of the MBC/El Salvador,
(ii) the Microregional Development Strategy (RECODES); and (iii) the formulation of
the Management Plan for the Montecristo National Park and the Natural Area of San
Diego-La Barra.
29. The Sustainable Rural Development Project of Ecological Vulnerability Zones in the
Trifinio Region (PRODERT), financed by the Central American Bank for Economic
Integration (CABEI) and involving the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural
Cooperation (IICA), promotes activities for improving, microenterprise and handicraft
promotion and small potable water and irrigation works, complemented with a training
and rural credit program covering the three countries.
30. The activities of these Programs will address certain threats to the integrity of the
MTPA through the promotion of conservation practices among the farming
communities in the region including the promotion of environment-friendly productive
activities (organic coffee, handicrafts and tourism promotion). Some of the structural
causes of the threats will be addressed through actions aimed at improving the
regulations and capacity of the local governments with regard to natural resources
control and surveillance, territorial organization and planning. The Program will also
continue strengthening the broad participation of the local population in project
execution.
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31. However, the important investments of the PT-CARL, PAES and PRODERT projects
in the Trifinio Region are directed towards areas outside, although sometimes in areas
adjacent to the MTPA. The PT-CARL, for example, contemplates the MTPA as a
strategic element in the planning and territorial organization of the Trifinio Region,
but does not include resources for activities directly related with the legal
consolidation of the area, supply of logistic and human resources or for activities
related to biodiversity protection. PRODERT activities have not included actions
directly related with the conservation of ecosystems in the upper parts of the
Montecristo Massif, as the project focuses mainly on the lowest elevations of the
Trifinio Region. To date, only the Salvadoran part of the MTPA is subject to a
functioning protected areas management regime. There are no management activities
in the Guatemalan and Honduran parts of the MTPA. This situation causes great
concern, not only due to the risks of losing globally significant biodiversity, but also
because of the threat to the water resources which have their origin in the Montecristo
Massif, particularly in the MTPA. The MTPA is also important in terms of reducing
the vulnerability of the Trifinio Region to natural disasters (earthquakes, floods caused
by tropical storms, landslides and related events).
c. Alternative scenario (with GEF Project)
32. The proposed GEF Project will develop complementary actions to the activities
promoted under the PT-CARL, PAES, PRODERT and other projects and programs in
all three countries. Activities represented in the baseline scenario will only reach the
initial limit of the buffer zone of the MTPA. Therefore, the resources of the proposed
GEF project will specifically be dedicated to the protection and management of the
biological resources represented within the MTPA, its BZ and the interconnected
biological corridors identified as priorities by the three countries under the MBC.
33. It is also expected that the GEF/IDB project will facilitate geographic and thematic
reorientation of selected activities of projects already operating in the Trifinio Region.
Especially in the case of PT-CARL, which is also under the domain of the TPTC,
efforts will be made to enhance this program’s contribution toward biodiversity
protection and ecological restoration objectives for the Trifinio Region. Potential
activities to be co-financed under PT-CARL in coordination with the GEF/IDB project
include: i) stabilization of the agricultural frontier along the new borders of the
MTPA; ii) intensified agroforestry and soil and water conservation extension
initiatives in the buffer zone; and iii) reforestation and forest management focused on
native species and restoration of biological corridors, especially where these are linked
to national and regional corridors that make up the MBC. It is also intended that PT-
CARL, in concert with the GEF initiative, will place much more emphasis on the
incorporation of strategies and mechanisms to encourage payment for environmental
services, recognizing the value of the MTPA and upper watersheds in terms of their
production of water resources and reduction of vulnerability to natural disasters, and
incorporating these costs in local accounting, both at the municipal and community
levels.
34. The proposed GEF project will: (i) promote actions related to the protection and
conservation of the MTPA, from the peak of the Trifinio Summit (2.418 masl) within
Montecristo Massif down to where it integrates with the sustainable development
actions promoted by the PT-CARL in the BZ; (ii) enhance the knowledge of the
15
locally represented ecosystems and the potential of establishing interconnections
among the regional biological corridors among the three countries; and (iii) contribute
to the management of the MTPA under an explicitly trinational structure that will
represent an innovation in terms of international relations and integration in favor of
biodiversity conservation, vis-à-vis establishment of an unprecedented transboundary
protected area management model in Central America. The expected global impact is
the conservation of the regionally and globally significant biodiversity that exist in the
Montecristo Massif and associated biological corridors. The benefits produced through
the execution of the proposed GEF project will be incremental to the PT-CARL,
PAES and PRODERT projects and necessary to achieve the integrated management of
the natural resources and biodiversity protection that are important for the three
countries, while contributing to the consolidation and conservation of the biological
corridors in the Central American region and to the protection of biodiversity of global
importance.
35. Components and activities proposed under the GEF project. This section presents
a preliminary description of components and activities to be included in the proposed
GEF Project. These components and their respective activities will form part of the
Management Plan and Action Program of the MTPA, which will be products resulting
from the project preparation phase.
Component 1: Consolidation of the geographical limits and legal protection
framework of the MTPA
Land tenure. A land cadastre in the Montecristo Massif will be financed as the
basis to legally determine, demarcate and register the actual and real limits of the
MTPA and its BZ, applying state-of-the-art technology (GPS, SIG). There are
several private estates within and adjacent to the MTPA with large extensions of
cloud forest and transition forests in good condition, which are parts of the
ecosystems subject to protection under this project. Based on the land tenure
(private vs. public) adequate measures and instruments will be developed and
applied for the management of the land for conservation purposes.
Management category. A single trinational management category for the MTPA
will be determined through a process lead by the TCPA, in consultation with the
TCTP. National legislation will be harmonized and trinational agreements sought
for the effective trinational management of the MTPA under the agreed category
and within the territorial limits defined through the land registry and the
environmental and socio-economic diagnostics.
Physical demarcation. The physical demarcation of the territorial limits of the
MTPA will be financed, in particular in potential conflict areas (close to
agricultural frontier). The project will also support the dissemination of
information regarding the limits and the importance of the MTPA to all relevant
institutions, organizations and the public in general.
Component 2: Integrated management and sustainable use of the MTPA, its buffer
zone and biological corridors for biodiversity conservation and improved livelihoods
of the local population
16
Infrastructure and human resources. Establishment and financing of minimal
infrastructure and human resources required for the effective protection and
management of the MTPA for a period of up to four years, including that required
for the physical demarcation and border protection of the MTPA and to facilitate
public use (e.g. trails, interpretation centers);
Zoning. The definitive zoning scheme for the MTPA will be designed, put in place
and evaluated;
Biodiversity Conservation in Private Lands. Support will be provided to promote
protected areas management in private lands located within and immediately
adjacent to the MTPA7;
Environmental education. Formal and informal environmental education focusing
on the MTPA, as well as organizing local youth groups to participate in
environmental management and advocacy activities;
Ecotourism and sustainable use of biodiversity. Orientation and training of local
community members in ecotourism and alternative use of the biological resources
(microenterprise, guides, flower cultivation, handicrafts, environment-friendly
coffee and its certification and related activities), as well as hiring and training
members of the local community as forest rangers and para-researchers;
Biological corridors. Demonstration projects of ecological restoration in biological
corridors that link the MTPA with the MBC.
Component 3: Enhanced knowledge about the biodiversity in the MTPA, its BZ and
adjacent biological corridors.
Biodiversity baseline and monitoring. Studies will be financed to complete the
basic ecological inventory of the MTPA (especially in Guatemala and Honduras)
and hydrological resources assessment of the Montecristo Massif, and a series of
indicators will be selected to monitor the state of the ecosystems (species, habitat,
coverage and flower composition, etc.) in order to create a baseline to monitor its
dynamics through time and determine the impacts on them of management and
protection activities promoted by the project. These indicators will measure local
and regional impacts of the interventions as well as how they relate to global
initiatives. Efforts will be made to harmonize the biological monitoring activities
with other monitoring efforts underway in the region (such as the IABIN, INBIO),
the proposal to create the Regional Biodiversity Center, and particularly with the
monitoring and research activities of the regional MBC program.
Economic and socio-cultural diagnostics. Studies will be carried out to fill existing
gaps in terms of economic and socio-cultural information, including current and
potential uses of the natural resources (including water) in the MTPA and its BZ
and in the Trifinio Region (incl. indigenous uses). This will contribute to guide
7
Support for biodiversity conservation in private lands will be analyzed in detail during project design, but could
involve, among others, instruments such as conservation easements, ecotourism concessions, payments for
environmental services etc. Lessons learned will be sought from experiences in the three countries and the
region, including, for example, a network of approximately 30 private land owners involved with biodiversity
conservation in El Salvador.
17
management activities of the MTPA, facilitate the participation of stakeholders
and contribute to establishment of the project baseline and monitoring activities.
Diagnostics studies in biological corridors. Rapid ecological and socio-economic
diagnostic studies will be carried out in the biological corridors identified under
the MBC and their connections to the MPTA, will be carried out, including the
following areas: (i) San Diego-La Barra Dry Forest in El Salvador; (ii) Guija Lake
Wetlands between El Salvador and Guatemala; (iii) Suchitán, Quetzaltepeque,
Ipala and Las Víboras Volcanoes and Atescatempa Lagoon in Guatemala;
(iv) Cerro Güisayote and Cerro Erapuca in Honduras; and (v) Cerro El Pital on the
El Salvador and Honduras border.
Targeted research. Based on the results of the ecological diagnostic studies and
monitoring, a selective research program will be designed and supported to target
critical biodiversity information gaps, ensuring involvement of the national,
regional and international scientific community.
Information system, data sharing and interchanges. Information generated under
all these efforts will be consolidated in an information system and disseminated for
the purposes of strengthening the management activities of the MTPA, its BZ and
biological corridors (e.g. website, information and documentation center). The
project will also actively seek establishment of data sharing and information
interchanges concerning evolving experiences and lessons learned with other
similar projects in the region, especially those involving GEF financing in
transboundary areas. Of special interest will be information interchanges through
direct contact, document sharing, workshops and forums with those responsible for
implementing other GEF-financed projects in the region. It is expected that several
best practices will have potential for replication with these projects and in other
transboundary areas in the region, including: transboundary institutional
frameworks and management approaches, restoration of and interconnections with
biological corridors, and sustainable financing mechanisms based on the payment
of environmental services.
Component 4. Institutional strengthening for effective management of the MTPA
Management Capacity. A trinational management structure for the MTPA will be
established and strengthened, which will function within the institutional
framework of the TCTP and under the guidance of the TCPA, under the
framework provided for by the Plan Trifinio Agreement.
Technical supervision. The technical advisory and supervision role of the TCPA
will be strengthened, involving its members in the planning, monitoring and
evaluation of the activities carried out in the MTPA;
Public participation. The active involvement of local stakeholders in the
management of the MTPA will be promoted through the strengthening of Local
Stakeholders Committees (LSC), including representatives of the seven
municipalities comprised in the MTPA, productive associations/cooperatives,
community associations, entities or individuals owning land within and adjacent to
the MTPA, NGOs, indigenous groups and other groups of interest in accordance
18
with their relation with the area. Also, a formal Local Support Group (LSG) will
be established as a consultative body in the management of the MTPA.
Coordination. Formal coordination with other programs and projects of the within
the Trifinio Region will be promoted, beginning with the design stage and into
implementation, through technical and/or financial cooperation agreements, and
special coordinating arrangements. Once the MTPA project is operational,
cooperative relationships will be sought with implementing agencies of other GEF
projects in each of the three participating countries (El Salvador, Guatemala and
Honduras) and several transboundary GEF-financed projects in the region (see
discussion below under section E.2. Consultation, Coordination and
Collaboration between and among Implementing Agencies, Executing Agencies,
and the GEF Secretariat).
Sustainable financing. Studies will be financed to analyze and develop
mechanisms and instruments for the collection and management of the necessary
resources to finance the recurrent MTPA management costs. Demonstration
projects will also be carried out, based on positive experience on sustainable
financing of conservation activities in the three countries and the region. This
effort will include the preparation of a sustainability plan and the establishment of
a special fund as the repository of the collected resources to be used only for the
MTPA management and to be managed under the authority of the TCTP.
3. SUSTAINABILITY (INCLUDING FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY)
36. Institutional. It is envisioned that the proposed Project will operate within the
trinational institutional framework already in place for several years. This institutional
framework and the Trifinio Plan already have the support of the governments of El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras through trinational treaties and declarations. The
fact that the governments have taken loans from the IDB (PT-CARL and PAES) and
CABEI (PRODERT) to finance sustainable development programs in the Trifinio
Region within the context of an integration policy is evidence of their sustained
commitment towards sustainable development in the region. It is expected that the
trinational administrative structure for the proposed Project to manage the MTPA will
be sustained through its relationship with the existing trinational institutional
framework including, among others, the TCTP, TCPA and the LSC.
37. Financial. In terms of financial sustainability, the selection of productive activities to
be promoted in the MTPA and its BZ will be based on a socio-economic and
environmental cost and benefit analysis. The level of acceptance and uptake of new
technologies by the beneficiary population will also be monitored. Additionally, the
project will support the development of a sustainability plan for the MTPA, in which a
minimum number of pilot projects to establish mechanisms for the payment of
environmental services provided by the APTM would be proposed.
38. Environmental and social. The proposed project will contribute to enhance the
effectiveness of conservation of globally important biodiversity in the Montecristo
Massif. In view of the nature of the proposed activities, it is not expected that the
project will have negative environmental and social impacts. Nevertheless, the project
Operating Regulations will include environmental and social impact assessment
procedures, and the project monitoring system will monitor both environmental and
19
social impacts. Finally, the participatory approach to be taken during project
formulation and execution will also ensure strong participation of local stakeholders
(incl. indigenous communities).
4. REPLICABILITY
39. While protected areas management activities and the dissemination of good practices
for non-consumptive use of the natural resources are similar to those promoted in
many projects in the region, the fact that the project will be executed in a coordinated
and integrated manner between three countries allows for the generation of
experiences that are potentially replicable in other transboundary areas. Since there are
several transboundary areas in Central America and the Caribbean (and even in other
regions of the world), where biodiversity is threatened, it is expected that the
experiences and lessons learned from the proposed Project can be replicated. In
selecting demonstration projects, criteria will be applied to determine the replicability
of the interventions. As one of the activities proposed under Component 4, the project
will actively seek out and establish relationships with those entities responsible for
implementation of other projects in each of the three participating countries (El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) as well as other projects in the region, especially
other transboundary projects—especially the GEF/IDB project on Environmental
Protection and Maritime Transport Pollution Control in the Gulf of Honduras (Belize,
Guatemala, Honduras), the GEF/IDB Integrated Ecosystem Management of the
Binational Sixaola River Basin (Costa Rica and Panama), the GEF/IDB Integrated
Ecosystem Management of the Gulf of Fonseca (El Salvador, Honduras and
Nicaragua), and the GEF/World Bank project on the Corazon Transboundary
Biosphere Reserve (Honduras and Nicaragua)—to consolidate lessons learned and
disseminate these experiences throughout the region using various media, including
reports, the Internet, conferences and workshops.
5. STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT/INTENDED BENEFICIARIES
40. As a result of the almost 17 years of efforts conducive to integrated development in
the Trifinio Region there is already a history of the participation of organizations at all
levels in the three countries. Among the existing organizations, it is worth mentioning
the Trifinio Associations for Sustainable Development (ATRIDEST) constituted
through the Trifinio Pilot Project (PPT) in 1995 and conformed in each country by
organizations of small and medium producers, savings and credit cooperatives,
associations of integrationist groups, associations of ecologist groups and associations
of environmental educators. The ATRIDEST are part of the Consultative Committee
of the TCTP. The proposed Project will formally consider, within its organizational
framework, the participation of the interested and affected parties through the Local
Stakeholder Committees (LSC), which are already operational under the PT-CARL.
The LSC are currently made up by representatives of the municipal governments
comprised in the MTPA in the three countries, productive associations/cooperatives,
community associations, indigenous groups, entities or individuals owning land within
and adjacent to the MTPA, NGOs and other groups with interests in the area and the
MTPA in particular. The project will draw members from the LSC to establish a single
trinational Local Support Group (LSG) as a consultative body to managers of the
MTPA. It is proposed that LSG will have direct participation in the annual planning,
monitoring and evaluation of Project activities.
20
41. It is important to mention that the area to be covered under the PT-CARL comprises
almost the entire area surrounding the MTPA, including limited portions of the BZ.
During the preparation of the PT-CARL, a socioeconomic analysis was made in the
Trifinio Region to identify the main social actors. This information will serve as a
basis for the design of the proposed Project. During the PDF-B additional socio-
economic assessments will be carried out, as well as an extensive consultation process
with the local stakeholders, including several consultation meetings and planning
workshops with interested parties and potential beneficiaries.
During the PDF-B stage, the consultation and participation process will be carried out
in two distinct phases:
Phase 1: Consultation with relevant stakeholder groups during diagnostic studies.
PDF consultants will carry out individual guided interviews and group meetings to
elicit input from stakeholder groups in all three countries to analyze their
relationship to the natural resources base in the Trifinio Region and especially the
MTPA, determine resource use systems, and garner their opinions as to threats to
the resources base, impediments to sustainable development and maintenance of
ecological processes, and basic socioeconomic needs.
Phase 2: Direct participation of relevant stakeholder groups in project design.
PDF consultants will then reconvene relevant stakeholder groups to elicit their
participation in defining the course of action under each component, determine
avenues of participation and assign responsibilities to selected groups (e.g.
municipal governments, regional representatives of national government
institutions, local community and agricultural organizations, water user groups,
Local Environmental Groups, private landowners, selected industries, tourism
operators, etc.). The actual makeup of the Local Support Group (LSG) will be
established at this time as a formal entity within the trinational institutional
framework responsible for management of the MTPA, along with assignment of
responsibilities and operational regulations, including the preparation of annual
work plans, monitoring and project evaluation activities.
D. FINANCING
1. FINANCING PLAN
42. The preliminary total cost of the proposed Project has been estimated to be
US$11´500.000. The GEF contribution is estimated at US$2´500.000. The final
budget will be determined during project design.
2. CO-FINANCING
43. The level of co-financing is estimated at US$9´000.000. These resources are expected
to come from the following projects that already exist in the area. From the total of
US$15´000.000 to be invested in PT-CARL, an estimated US$5´400.000 will be
counted as co-financing for the proposed Project. In addition, US$3´100.000 from
PAES, the Environmental Program in El Salvador (IDB loan: 886/OC-ES) will be
reoriented towards the Upper Lempa River Basin and of this, US$1´600.000 is
counted as co-financing for the proposed Project. The CABEI funded project
PRODERT is also considered a potential source of co-financing for the proposed
21
Project. During the project design phase, the exact amounts of co-financing will be
determined and additional sources of co-financing will also be explored (e.g. GTZ).
E. INSTITUTIONAL COORDINATION AND SUPPORT
44. The proposed Project will be executed within the institutional framework already
established for the Trifinio Plan and the PT-CARL. During the PDF-B, an institutional
analysis will be carried out to define appropriate arrangements and adjustments
required for the purposes of the proposed Project. For example, under the PT-CARL
activities are executed primarily by national execution units, although coordinated by
the TCTP. For the proposed Project, efforts will be made to strengthen the trinational
nature of project execution.
1. CORE COMMITMENTS AND LINKAGES
45. The proposed project responds to IDB’s policies and strategies for the region and for
the three countries. In addition to the PT-CARL, the IDB is also financing several
operations in the three countries that are related to the proposed Project and can
provide valuable lessons learned.
46. The IDB Country Strategy in El Salvador focuses on the integrated development of the
rural economy through social, economic and financial services, infrastructure in
support of the production and promotion of farming productivity as instruments to
reduce poverty. The strategy identifies the importance of environmental sustainability
for the reactivation of the economic growth and competitiveness with an emphasis on
reconstruction efforts after the recent earthquakes. The Environmental Program of El
Salvador/PAES (886/OC-ES), financed by the Bank, has acquired experiences
relevant to the implementation of soil conservation practices and agroforestry in the
middle basin of the Lempa River and funds have been used to prepare the
management plan and the action plan for the Montecristo National Park, the
Salvadoran part of the MTPA. Remaining resources of the PAES will be redirected to
the Upper Lempa River Basin as a direct contribution to PT-CARL, as co-financing
for the MTPA project.
47. The proposed IDB Country Strategy for Guatemala for the period 2004-2007 has
poverty reduction as its main objective, with an emphasis on supporting the
Government’s efforts towards sustainable economic growth and employment
generation. This will be achieved through two specific objectives: (a) improve the
conditions for efficient production and incorporating excluded sectors in the
productive process, and (b) increasing human capital in an equitable manner.
Institutional strengthening and governance is a mainstreamed priority. The proposed
Project complements the IDB funded Program for Natural Resources Management in
the Upper Basins of Guatemala. Moreover, the experiences acquired concerning
payment of environmental services in the forests under the Food and Agriculture
Sector Reconversion Support Program (1153/OC-GU) are directly applicable to the
financial sustainability objectives pursued under the proposed Project. The Bank is
also in the process of formulating a GEF/IDB project for the consolidation of the
protected areas system of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve to complement to a
Sustainable Development Program (GU-L1002) currently under preparation.
22
48. In the case of Honduras, the IDB Country Strategy gives importance to rural
development and to the protection of natural resources in line with the recovery efforts
after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and under the new institutional framework of the
National Program for Sustainable Rural Development (PRONADERS). The Multi-
phase Program for Management of Natural Resources in Priority Watersheds
(1077/SF-HO) will be executed to support PRONADERS and provides for the
integration of the productive and socioeconomic aspects in rural areas within a context
of sustainability and interdependence with the natural resources. The IDB is also the
Executing Agency for the GEF project Consolidation of Ecosystem Management and
Biodiversity Conservation of the Bay Islands, which is generating experiences and
valuable lessons that could be considered for the MTPA in terms of protected areas
management and payment of environmental services to support the financing of the
conservation activities.
49. At regional level, the Bank is in the process of approving the GEF/IDB Project on
Environmental Protection and Maritime Transport Pollution Control in the Gulf of
Honduras (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras), approved by the GEF at the end of 2004.
The experiences of this project can also be considered for the proposed Project, in
particular as it relates to trinational collaboration and the development of sustainable
financing mechanisms. IDB has also presented a project concept to the GEF for
Integrated Ecosystem Management of the Gulf of Fonseca, another trinational project
involving El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
2. CONSULTATION, COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN
AND AMONG IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES, EXECUTING AGENCIES,
AND THE GEF SECRETARIAT, IF APPROPRIATE
50. During the preparation phase, arrangements will be made to coordinate the execution
of the project with other IAs in order to generate a synergy with other national and
regional initiatives. Particularly, efforts will be made to ensure that the work in the
MTPA and the adjacent biological corridors is fully integrated with the activities
already in progress under the Regional Program for Consolidation of the Central
American Biological Corridor (UNDP/UNEP/WB), which is coordinated by the
Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD).
Additionally, efforts will be made to adapt and integrate the monitoring and research
activities of the MTPA to the systems already established by the MBC. At the regional
level, coordination with the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network
(IABIN–GEF/WB) and the project for Integrated Management of Ecosystems by
Indigenous Communities (GEF/WM/IDB) will be promoted.
51. At the national level, collaboration will be explored with the Project for the Promotion
of Biodiversity Conservation in Coffee Plantation Areas (GEF/IBRD) in El Salvador,
since part of the MTPA and its BZ is in coffee plantations. In addition, in El Salvador,
the proposed project will complement efforts of the Pilot Program for Consolidation of
Protected Areas and Land Administration (GEF/WB), by developing an institutional
and legal framework for the management of a trinational protected area and the
dissemination of experiences and methodologies. The IDB has held coordination
meetings with the World Bank and the Salvadoran Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources specifically on this project in order to avoid overlaps and ensure
adequate coordination between these two complementary initiatives. In El Salvador
23
efforts will be coordinated with the World Bank/GEF Environmental Services Project
particularly through the interchange of experiences regarding payment for
environmental services, under which the WB/GEF project will address structural and
policy impediments to the payment of such services, and the IDB/GEF project would
collaborate in the implementation of mechanisms and instruments for payment of
these services at pilot sites, including the MTPA. Also in El Salvador, the execution of
the project will be coordinated with the second phase of the Land Administration
Project (LAP II) financed by the World Bank, which will include activities to be
financed with GEF resources to regulate land tenure and boundary delineation in a
priority group of protected areas and preparation of their management plans. There is
an opportunity for technical collaboration and possibly co-financing between the two
projects, particularly regarding the land tenure regularization activities in the MTPA
and its BZ. The GEF/WB Pilot Protected Areas Consolidation and Land
Administration project is under design in El Salvador and is intended as a partially
blended operation with the WB Land Administration project. Activities proposed
under the GEF/IDB project for management of the MTPA will be strictly coordinated
with this project to capture greater synergies in areas of protected areas consolidation,
management planning, training, and involvement of local residents in sustainable uses
of biodiversity. In Honduras, experiences and lessons learned from the Protected
Areas Biodiversity Project (GEF/UNDP-IBRD) will be considered. The coordination
of protocols and inventory and scientific research methods and ecological monitoring
will be sought with the new Project on Promoting the Integrated Management of
Ecosystems and Natural Resources (GEF/UNDP). Collaboration will also be explored
with the GEF/WB project on the Corazon Transboundary Biosphere Reserve.
3. IMPLEMENTATION/EXECUTION ARRANGEMENTS
52. The required systems for the supervision, audit and quality control for the execution of
the PT-CARL have been agreed between the IDB and the TCTP. During the PDF-B, a
detailed institutional analysis will be carried out to determine possible adjustments and
particular requirements needed for the execution of the proposed Project. Among the
aspects considered is the need to strengthen the capacity and structure of the TCTP for
the adequate management of the MTPA and the GEF project. The TCPA will also be
strengthened to ensure that it can play an advisory and supervisory role and ensure the
linkages between the efforts carried out in the MTPA and the national plans, policies
and strategies regarding biodiversity and protected areas and its links with the MBC.
The LSG will be established to ensure that project activities are prepared and carried
out with full participation of local stakeholders, including the preparation of annual
work plans and project monitoring.
53. The IDB will assign the supervision and oversight tasks of the GEF project to its
Country Offices, with support from HQ staff in Washington DC through periodic
administration missions. The design of the project will include a monitoring system to
follow project activities and their efficiency with regard to the fulfillment of the
objectives (environmental, socioeconomic, institutional and financial sustainability
and impact) and expected products (programmed versus executed goals) as established
in the project logical framework; as well as in terms of monitoring the efficient
administration of the GEF and IDB resources and other co-financing sources. The
24
monitoring and evaluation system will also be useful to identify and disseminate good
practices in the Trifinio Region and other areas in Central America and the Caribbean.
PART II – PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PREPARATION
54. For the preparation of the GEF/IDB Project, US$150,000 is requested from the GEF
(PDF-B) to complement the technical corporation funded by the Norwegian Trust
Fund for Consultants (US$250,000) administered by the IDB, as well as the local
counterpart (US$30,000). In addition, the preparation of the Project is supported with
technical, logistical and administrative support from TCTP.
55. With resources from the technical cooperation funded by the Norwegian Trust Fund
for Consultants (US$250,000) administered by the IDB and the local counterpart, a
consulting firm has been contracted to carry out the following activities: (a) a socio-
economic and environmental assessment, (b) the preparation of a Management Plan
for MTPA, (c) the formulation of an action plan for the execution of the management
plan, (d) an indicative proposal of the trinational organizational and administrative
framework for the management of the trinational protected area, (e) incremental cost
analysis, and (f) budget and operational regulations for the execution of the GEF/IDB
Project.
A. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PDF-B ACTIVITIES
56. The PDF-B will finance the hiring of consultant services and consultation workshops
to carry out activities grouped in the following three components required for project
preparation:
Complementary inventories and diagnostic studies: Additional information
collection activities will be financed within the environmental, social, economic,
cultural and institutional organizational areas. These will include, among others,
in-depth studies of the biodiversity, strengthening of the administrative and
organizational framework of the GEF/IDB Project, a complementary legal study
related to the establishment of the MTPA, and an analysis of alternatives for the
sustainable financing mechanism for the management of MTPA.
Consultation and participation: The project will finance consultation workshops
with local and national interest groups and beneficiaries (governmental, NGO’s,
communities, indigenous communities, producers and private sector) with special
focus on the Local Support Group.
Preparation of the GEF documents: Preparation of the required documents by IDB
and GEF for submission and approval of the Project, including detailed terms of
reference for the principal activities of the Project.
B. PDF-B BLOCK B OUTPUTS
57. The expected products/outcome of the PDF-B include: (i) an in-depth diagnostic study
of the biodiversity in the MTPA and its BZ and the biological corridors, (ii) a proposal
for the administrative and organizational framework for the GEF/IDB project, (iii) a
legal analysis related to the establishment of the MTPA and the trinational
management mechanism, (iv) an analysis of the alternative sustainable financing
mechanisms for the management of the MTPA, (v) consultation and participation
25
workshops, and (vi) detailed terms of reference for the main activities of the GEF/IDB
project (project document and annexes, including an incremental cost analysis).
C. JUSTIFICATION
58. The GEF PDF-B grant will complement the funds from IDB (Norwegian Trust Fund)
and the local counterpart, which will largely focus on carrying out the diagnostic
studies and the formulation of the Management Plan and the Regional Action Plan of
the MTPA. Early in the implementation of studies carried out under the Trust Fund
certain information voids were detected where more analysis would be required, due
to deficient information, especially in terms of ecological and socioeconomic
conditions within the Guatemalan and Honduran portions of the MTPA and related
buffer zone areas. Also the challenges represented in the development of appropriate
institutional and legal mechanisms to facilitate proper trinational management of the
MTPA, including analysis and consultation to facilitate direct participation of local
stakeholder groups in the proposed Local Support Group, require more technical
resources than are available under the Trust Fund. For these reasons, additional funds
are being requested from the GEF under a PDF-B grant. The terms of reference for the
entire PDF effort, however, are one in the same for both funding sources and the effort
will be fully integrated. The PDF-B funds will serve to carry out more in-depth and
complementary inventories and diagnostic studies of the biodiversity of the MTPA, its
BZ and adjacent biological corridors. Furthermore the PDF-B will support a wider
participatory process for the formulation of the project proposal, the proposed
indicative sustainable financing mechanisms as well as the formulation of the full GEF
proposal.
D. TIMETABLE
59. The activities of the PDF-B would be carried out in the second and third semesters of
2005, with expected presentation of the Full Size Project to the GEF Council in
December 2005.
E. BUDGET
60. The budget for the preparation of the project consists of the following:
PDF-B IDB
Local (TCTP)
Activity (GEF) (TC-01-12-04-4-RS) Total US$
US$
US$ US$
Participatory socio-economic, 50,000 20,000 5,000 45,000
environmental diagnostic studies
MTPA Management Plan 10,000 140,000 20,000 190,000
Action Program for 20,000 40,000 5,000 65,000
implementation of the MTPA
Management Plan
Consultation process, coordination 70,000 50,000 -- 130,000
and preparation of the GEF/IDB
proposal.
TOTAL 150,000 250,000 30,000 430,000
26
PART IV—RESPONSE TO REVIEWS
A. CONVENTION SECRETARIAT
Comments from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):: The
project could be considered in the light of the programme of work on mountain biodiversity:
(http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/areas/mountain/programme.asp). Section C could elaborate
how it responds to COP guidance (http://www.biodiv.org/financial/guidance.shtml).
Response from the IDB: The proposed GEF/IDB project fits in well with Mountain
Biodiversity Program of Work promoted by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity along three interrelated elements. First, the GEF alternative would catalyze baseline
activities to contribute to reduction and/or removal of threats of continued expansion of the
agricultural frontier into cloud forest and transitional lower montane broadleaf-pine forests, and
encourage appropriate land and resource use techniques to facilitate restoration and interlinkage
of ecological fragments in and around the MTPA. Secondly, the project serves as a further
extension of regional integration and transboundary collaborative policy initiatives and
development efforts under the Trifinio Plan among national and local governmental and non-
governmental organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Finally, the project will
lead to the establishment of an improved knowledge base and framework for monitoring the
dynamics of the rich biodiversity found in the MTPA and its connections with biological
corridors that interlink with the regional and globally important Mesoamerican Biological
Corridor. This improved knowledge base will be disseminated at all levels to support
environmental science research and education efforts, treat root causes of threats to the viability
of ecosystems represented in the MTPA and interconnected biological corridors, promote the
replication of best practices, and contribute to the incorporation of the value (and costs) of
environmental services in local and national accounts. Finally, in preparing the Concept Paper,
the Project Team has reviewed the COP guidance and ensured that the proposed activities
respond to the policy, strategy, program priorities and eligibility criteria.
B. GEF SECRETARIAT
GEFSEC Comment 1: It is not very clear what activities under the IDB-funded Trinational
Program for Sustainable Development of the Upper Lempa River Basis (PT-CARL) are
considered baseline and what is considered as cofinance to GEF project. What part of and how is
the PT-CARL project going to be reoriented to integrate biodiversity conservation in its activities
as part of the GEF project?
IDB Response 1: As indicated in the revised Concept Document (see paragraphs 27 and 33), in
its current state, the activities and investments of PT-CARL are expected to contribute both to
the sustainable baseline scenario as well as co-financing to the GEF/IDB project. Examples of
baseline activities and investments include, among others: basic sanitation infrastructure, disaster
prevention works, diversification in agricultural and non-agricultural production, and
strengthening of local governments. Activities and investments that are considered as co-
financing to the GEF/IDB project include, among others: natural resources management in areas
adjacent to the BZ and in the biological corridors; environmentally friendly productive
diversification, and strengthening of the institutional framework for trinational integration.
i
It is also expected that the GEF/IDB project will facilitate geographic and thematic reorientation
of selected activities of projects already operating in the Trifinio Region. Especially in the case
of PT-CARL, which is also under the domain of the TPTC, efforts will be made to enhance this
program’s contribution toward biodiversity protection and ecological restoration objectives for
the Trifinio Region. Potential activities to be co-financed under PT-CARL in coordination with
the GEF/IDB project include: i) stabilization of the agricultural frontier along the new borders of
the MTPA; ii) intensified agroforestry and soil and water conservation extension initiatives in the
buffer zone; and iii) reforestation and forest management focused on native species and
restoration of biological corridors, especially where these are linked to national and regional
corridors that make up the MBC. It is also intended that PT-CARL, in concert with the GEF
initiative, will place much more emphasis on the incorporation of strategies and mechanisms to
encourage payment for environmental services provided by the MTPA, and incorporating these
costs in local accounting, both at the municipal and community levels.
GEFSEC Comment 2: The project could provide useful lessons learned to manage Trinational
PAs in the region. Please consider strengthening replication activities in component 3 of the
project.
IDB Response 2: Additional language has been added under Component 3 (bullet #5) to better
articulate the potential for replicating experiences and lessons learned under the project. One
aspect of this strategy will be to establish information interchanges and maintain close contact
with implementing organizations of other binational and trinational projects in the region in
order to analyze, qualify and “package” selected best practices and experiences that evolve from
the MTPA project and others in the region. IDB is at the forefront in the development of several
transboundary initiatives with GEF, including: Environmental Protection and Maritime Transport
Pollution Control in the Gulf of Honduras (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras), Integrated Ecosystem
Management of the Gulf of Fonseca (El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua), and Integrated
Ecosystem Management of the Binational Sixaola River Basin (Costa Rica and Panama). Similar
collaborative relationships will be sought with the GEF/WB project on the Corazon
Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Honduras and Nicaragua) and with the CCAD for its efforts
under the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor project. More detailed descriptions of these
strategies for collaboration will be developed during the PDF-B period and included in the
Project Document.
GEFSEC Comment 3: As noted in the concept, please ensure strong coordination with the
ongoing WB project on Land Administration for land cadastre and titling activities. Coordination
with the new GEF projects in the region, such as WB/GEF Protected Areas Consolidation and
Land Administration, and Environmental Services Project are particularly important to share
lessons and avoid duplication of efforts. We expect that these coordination mechanisms will be
further clarified and elaborated under project component 4.
IDB Response 3: Additional text has been added to the Concept Document under the
Component 4 description (bullet #4) and section E.2. Consultation, Coordination and
Collaboration between and among Implementing Agencies, Executing Agencies, and the GEF
Secretariat (paragraph 51) to better articulate coordination strategies among other these and
other GEF projects in differing stages of development in the region. More detailed descriptions
of these strategies will be developed during the PDF-B period and included in the Project
Document.
ii
GEFSEC Comment 4: It is understood that a consulting firm is contracted to implement the
PDFB activities together with the Norwegian Trust Fund-funded activities. Please clarify how
the national and local stakeholders are going to participate, not only consulted, in the process to
ensure local ownership.
IDB Response 4: As described in the revised Concept Paper (paragraph 41), the consultation
and participation process is being implemented in two distinct phases. The first phase involves
consultation with relevant stakeholder groups during diagnostic studies in order to understand
their relationship to the natural resources base in the Trifinio Region and especially the MTPA,
and garner their opinions as to impediments to sustainable development and maintenance of
ecological processes, and basic socioeconomic needs. Individual guided interviews and group
meetings are used to elicit this input. The second phase will involve direct participation of
relevant stakeholder groups in defining the course of action under each component, determining
actual responsibilities and avenues of participation of selected groups (e.g. municipal
governments, regional representatives of national government institutions, local community and
agricultural organizations, water user groups, Local Environmental Groups, private landowners,
selected industries, tourism operators, etc.). The second phase will also serve to establish the
makeup and duties of the Local Support Group (LSG) as a formal entity within the trinational
institutional framework responsible for management of the MTPA. This strategy will be used to
foment a sense of local ownership of the project and direct participation in project
implementation and oversight, including the preparation of annual work plans, monitoring and
project evaluation activities.
GEFSEC Comment 5: The activities funded under the Trust Fund and the GEF PDF-B fund are
somewhat separated in the proposal. Please confirm that the two sets of initiatives are indeed
integrated and conducted together to ensure coherence under one PDFB initiative.
IDB Response 5: As explained in the revised Concept Paper (paragraph 58), the Norwegian
Trust Fund has been used to contract both a consulting firm, responsible for developing on-
ground environmental and socioeconomic diagnostic studies, and a senior environmental
specialist to provide supervision and quality control throughout all aspects of the PDF-B process.
At the outset of the work of the consulting firm, it was recognized that there would be certain
thematic areas where more analysis would be required, due to deficient information, especially in
terms of ecological and socioeconomic conditions within the Guatemalan and Honduran portions
of the MTPA and related buffer zone areas. It was also determined that more time would be
required for analysis and consultation to develop the appropriate institutional and legal
mechanisms to habilitate the proper trinational management of the MTPA, including direct
participation of local stakeholder groups in the proposed Local Support Group. For these
reasons, additional funds were requested from the GEF under the PDF-B grant. The terms of
reference for the entire PDF effort, however, encompass both sources of funding and the effort is
fully integrated.
iii
